Gold hovers near 3-week high on softer dollar, yields

Gold prices held steady on Monday, hovering near a more than three-week high scaled in the previous session, helped by a weaker U.S. dollar and lower bond yields.

Spot gold held its ground at $1,755.59 per ounce, as of 0053 GMT, after hitting its highest since July 6 at $1,767.79 on Friday.

U.S. gold futures eased 0.2% to $1,779 per ounce.

The dollar languished near three-week lows against its rivals, making greenback-denominated gold less expensive for other currency holders. Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were hovering near a four-month low.

Data showed U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in June as Americans paid more for goods and services, with monthly inflation surging by the most since 2005.

India launched its first international bullion exchange on Friday as the world’s second-biggest consumer of the precious metal tries to bring transparency to the market for the precious metal.

Asian share markets got off to a slow start on Monday as disappointing Chinese economic data fed doubts last week’s rally on Wall Street could be sustained in the face of determined policy tightening by global central banks.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings rose 0.06% to 1,005.87 tons on Friday from 1,005.29 tons on Thursday.

Physical gold buying eased last week in India as rupee prices rose to a three-week high, while the likelihood of fresh restrictions to tackle higher coronavirus cases clouded the demand outlook in top consumer China.

Spot silver fell 0.5% to $20.22 per ounce, platinum was down 0.5% at $892.83, and palladium eased 0.2% to $2,124.74.